Best VR Educational Apps and Experiences

October 04, 2017 - Dom Barnard

Virtual reality (VR) has potential to take learning beyond the traditional classroom or online learning experience. With benefits such as enhanced engagement, improved retention, and the ability to block out distractions, this simulation-based technology is being predicted as one of the leading trends in the educational industry.

Gaming has been the sector in most demand for the first few years of the virtual reality revolution. However educational apps have recently begun entering the main stream market, as several leaders have been looking to use the tech for educational purposes – this, combined with marketing methods of VR companies, such as Kickstarter campaigns, have raised awareness for the industry.

Explore the International Space Station in VR with Unimersiv.

Mobile VR headsets, such as the Google Cardboard, make VR experiences accessible to most people, as many of the apps on this list are available on both Android and iPhone. Educationally, these VR apps allow students to visualise concepts that are taught in textbooks and videos.

We’re going to be covering everything, from art to biology to space exploration. The wave of educational content is here, so let’s take a look at the best VR educational apps on the market.

Unimersiv (History)

Unimersiv has a large library of educational experiences available, where you’re given a detailed tour through to learn about a topic. These experiences include learning about dinosaurs in VR, journeying into the human brain, learning about Stonehenge and more.

Boulevard (Arts & Culture)

Boulevard partners with leading museums to share their collections through VR. You’ll be able to access art collections and cultural sites from all over the world, including from The British Museum, De Young and Rubin Museum of Art.

VirtualSpeech (Business)

VirtualSpeech help you improve your communication skills through a combination of online tutorials and virtual reality. You’ll learn fundamental techniques with traditional videos, and then practice what you have learnt in realistic virtual environments. Current courses include Public Speaking, Interview Preparation, Mindfulness Meditation, Sales Training and more.

InMind 2 (Biology)

InMind 2 is an adventure game which places emphasis on the chemistry behind human emotion. You'll take part in the process of a teenager called John becoming an adult, and help shape John's future self, while experiencing a journey inside the human brain. To control John’s emotions, one must catch the right neurons by shaking his head. These molecules will control John’s reactions to the situations around him, which will then shape his future as an adult.

Apollo 11 VR (History)

Apollo 11 VR lets you experience the first moon landing through the eyes of those who lived through it. The documentary uses a mix of original archive audio and video together with accurate recreations of the spacecraft and locations.

Engage (Platform)

Engage is an education and presentation tool that seeks to transform how people share ideas and teach lessons to each other globally by harnessing the power of virtual reality technologies. Engage is a multi-user system allowing up to 30 users into a single private lesson or meeting from any location to experience content.

Cospaces (Creation & Building)

Cospaces lets children create their own VR space. With a choice of objects and characters that can be animated and adapted, this VR experience is unique. It is easy to use and provides a great insight to how things can be pieced together. It also has a sharing feature to invite friends over to your VR environment.

EON Experience (General)

EON Reality has a large collection of VR lessons from physics to eye simulations. Students or teachers can create their VR lessons from preloaded content. EON also has a number of other educational offerings in the Android and iOS app stores, including Offshore VR training, Engine Explorer and a Virtual Anatomy Simulation.

Titans of Space (Space)

Titans of Space is a short guided tour of a few planets and stars, to give the player a sense of scale of just how big these planets and stars are compared to each other. The tour includes a voice over, facts and scored music for enhanced learning.

Google Expeditions (Travel)

Google Expeditions is a virtual reality platform built for the classroom. Google worked with teachers and content partners from around the world to create more than 100 engaging journeys — making it easy to immerse students in entirely new experiences.

Discovery VR (Travel)

Discovery TV channel compiled all the content for this app. Students can explore exotic natural locations and interact with our planet in a futuristic way. Aside from Google Cardboard, you can watch Discovery VR 360 videos on your desktop with a compatible browser, through Gear VR, Oculus Rift, or HTC Vive.

Anatomyou (Biology)

Anatomyou takes you on a tour inside the human body to learn more about its various systems, including the respiratory system, gastroscopy , nose and throat, digestive, circulatory and more. You’ll be able to watch these systems like the minimally invasive procedures device (i.e. endoscope, etc.). You can control the navigation speed and even pause the simulation.

Learn Languages in VR (Languages)

Learn Languages in VR helps you learn over 30 foreign languages by taking part in conversations with their virtual characters in Spanish, French, German, English, Chinese, Japanese, Russian and more. The app gives you roleplay scenarios in which to practice, from making friends on a train in Berlin to taking a taxi ride in Hong Kong.

The Body VR (Biology)

The Body VR: Journey Inside a Cell takes you inside the human body, travelling through the bloodstream and discovering how blood cells work to spread oxygen throughout the body. Enter one of the billions of living cells inside our body and learn how the organelles work together to fight deadly viruses.

Our Dinosaur Era VR (History)

Dinosaur Era VR enables you to travel through time and space, exploring the Mesozoic dinosaurs and other creatures of the same era. You can observe the huge dinosaur fossils at close range, and land on a VR dinosaur planet to visit the largest, the smallest, the fastest and the most ferocious dinosaurs. Learn why the dinosaurs, dominating the Earth for 180 million years, suddenly become extinct 65 million years ago.

Nomads (Culture)

The Nomads Series transports you across the Earth into the intimate reality of several nomadic cultures. Experience the way of life of Yak Herders in the Mongolian steppes, Maasai in Kenya, and Sea Gypsies living off the coast of Borneo. Nomads move from place to place across their ancestral territories: to graze their livestock, to look for waters plentiful of fish or as their territories become compromised.

Star Chart (Space)

Star Chart lets you explore our Solar System, from the Sun to the moons of Saturn and out to the farthest reaches of Pluto. View over 88 constellations and meteor showers in the night sky, stand in the footsteps of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on the Moon, explore Mars with the Curiosity Rover, and hold planets, moons, asteroids and even stars in palm of your hand.

Conclusion

VR technology isn’t just for entertainment purposes anymore. Virtual reality allows people to engage with educational content in a whole new way. They can travel, create art and look inside a human. The inclusion of VR into the curriculum allows teachers and lecturers to supplement their teaching with fun and interactive experiences. And, since it makes use of a virtual space, in the future it could reduce the need for a physical space to conduct classes in, making learning more accessible anywhere, anytime.